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Cult of Hockey player grades: Cam Talbot wins one for the Edmonton Oilers against St. Louis

David Staples, Edmonton Journal

Published: December 6, 2018 - 2:14 AM

Why does every Edmonton Oilers game right now feel like it’s Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Finals?

I must be desperate for the team to win.

Indeed, I am.

Edmonton’s season feels like it hangs in the balance, with the team scraping to get to .500, needing to get to real .500, desperate to get there and avoid another ghastly Season of Darkness.

If Edmonton had lost to St Louis — as it looked like the Oilers would do after getting down 2-0 in the first period — they would have been two games under .500, losing up much of the ground that they had gained under new coach Ken Hitchcock.

But with Cam Talbot, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Connor McDavid’s heroics, Edmonton now has 14 wins and 14 losses. They are at real .500 and in the thick of the Pacific Division playoff race.Connor McDavid, 6. Gets a full grade bump up for that amazing overtime goal. Gets docked a full mark for failing to cover the man in the slot on the first goal against. Was flying out there but was unable to create much on the attack, even in overtime.

Leon Draisaitl, 4. He played 28:48, so the coach loved his game, evidently. Me, not so much, in particular two slow backchecks, one late in the second and one in overtime, which led to two utterly dangerous St. Louis chances. He made not one major contribution to not one Grade A chance at even strength. He was part of a generally non-dangerous looking 4-on-3 power play in overtime. Given the Oil’s overall lack of scoring prowess since McDavid and Draisaitl were reunited on the same line, I’m going to suggest it’s time to split them up again. Of course, long-time readers know my bias here, my belief that the Oilers have their best chance of winning when Draisaitl is a centre and leads his own line. Nothing I’ve seen in the last few weeks has changed my mind on this point.

Alex Chiasson, 6. Set a brilliant screen on Klefbom’s crucial goal, but also made a few mistakes on scoring chances against including one horrific pass right on to the stick of a St. Louis attacker alone in the Edmonton slot. Oops! Looked a bit slow on the McDavid line, so much so that Ty Rattie had quite rightly taken his place by the end of the third period.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 8. Scored a crucial goal and led the second line, which was likely the Oil’s most effective unit in the third period. Nuge played 26:38 in all situations and did well in all situations. Was solid in his own end, not making any major mistakes on Grade A chances against (here’s the running count for the game).

Jesse Puljujarvi, 5. He’s going hard to the front of the net and winning some pucks with a quick, slashing pokecheck, but he and RNH aren’t yet combining well, with the veteran centre perhaps not trusting the young forward. But this line had some chemistry in part due to Puljujarvi’s reach and hustle, so an OK game overall. Needs to play with more ferocity and determination and did so to some extent in this game.

Jujhar Khaira, 7. Coach liked him enough to have him out in 6-on-5 (essentially taking Milan Lucic’s usual spot) when the Oilers needed a goal and he was part of the virtuous cycle that created a goal. Had one of his best games of the year, hustling hard, making plays with the puck and defending well.

Kyle Brodziak, 7. Brodziak looks to be a new man in recent weeks, skating faster, playing better, making fewer defensive errors and more good plays with the puck. This game was no exception.

Milan Lucic, 6. I like his hustle even if the results aren’t there. Had four hits, so at least that part of his game is intact.

Zack Kassian, 8. Led the team with five hits and also with five shots. Two of his shots were of the Grade A variety. Seems like the old ornery and effective Kass of the 2017 playoffs under Hitchcock — and do the Oilers ever need that old Kass.

Ty Rattie, 7. Was dangerous, getting a Grade A shot in the first and creating a rebound chance for Ryan Spooner in the third. Count me in as a fan of Rattie. He’s a smart, hustling player and the play rarely dies on his stick. He should be playing with Draisaitl or McDavid, something Hitchcock went to at the end of this game.

Ryan Spooner, 5. Well, there were no defensive miscues like we saw in his early Oilers games. And he was OK on the attack.

Patrick Russell, 5. Hustles hard and wins a few battles. I can see why he’s been so valued in Bakersfield.

Darnell Nurse, 6. OK, him getting caught behind the net again on a slot goal? Not cool. Not even close to cool. Nurse has got to make better reads than that, but he did so after that early awful error, playing one of his best games of the season the rest of the way. His pass set up RNH’s goal, so he clawed back his earlier mistake there.

Kris Russell, 6. Another solid and quiet game in a Top 4 role.

Oscar Klefbom, 7. Such a crucial goal from Klef. He’s munching the minutes and played a much stronger game on defence tonight, rarely getting caught out. Was on the ice for 30:42.

Adam Larsson, 6. Partnered well with Klefbom, the pairing holding their own in major hard minutes.

Kevin Gravel, 4. Played just 11:27 and had two super shaky moments in the game where he and Benning combined to allow two Grade A slot shot by the Blues.

Matt Benning, 4. Played 13:40 and, like Gravel, there was a reason for the limited ice time.

Cam Talbot, 9. His mark gets bumped up a full grade because of his shutting down St. Louis in the shoot-out. He outplayed the opposing goalie — and when that happens the Oilers usually win in this one-goal-difference league. Edmonton got outchanced 13-11 on Grade A chances, but again and again Talbot closed the door, looking like that strong and effective netminder who won so many games in 2016-17.